Enemies to lovers...from high school to the corporate world. This book was a fantastic read! I really loved getting to know the characters and to really feel all the feels from heartbreak, to rage, to falling head over heels. The banter between the two main characters will have you rolling with laughter!

There is insight into how big corporations take over small companies and the cut throat business involved. It makes you cheer for the "little man" as they try to survive and keep their culture. Nami's tech company is a fun place to work, so you don't want the takeover to happen.

The story is told in the two main character's point of view. The reader gets to see inside each of their families, their personal lives, and the obstacles they work to overcome. I loved this read, and I know many others will too!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press/St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for the ARC. The opinions expressed are my own.

Quick and sweet read!

Nami is the millenial boss we are all dying to have. She goes to bat for employees and loves them like family.

This is an enemies to lovers story. So if that's your trope, this book may be for you.

The story is about the sale of Nami's company Toggle, she co-owns it with a few other people. The company is doing well, so well that they are considering going public, which is a HUGE deal for startups, and along comes Rainforest (cough cough Amazon). Jae, an old high school rival, is heading the team at Rainforest that is trying to buy Toggle.

This story is not only about Jae and Nami's inevitable relationship but also about family, and the fine line children of immigrants toe when it comes to respecting their parents and family, and making space for themselves.

I loved this book!

3.25 stars rounded down

This was a workplace romance I just couldn't connect with, especially coming off one that I particularly enjoyed. Any time it takes me longer than 3 days to get through a rom-com, I know I'm about to hit a wall, and I feel like this one may have me slumping hard.

Nami Reid is the founder of tech company Toggle, which is running out of money and about to be bought by super company Rainforest. Life hasn't been going her way, with her ex fiancé cheating on her at his bachelor party and her mother throwing her a surprise birthday party where no friends showed up. Dejected, she wishes on her birthday cake for the universe to send her her soulmate, but instead her former high school nemesis, Jae Lee, shows up, as vice president of acquisitions at Rainforest, ready to take over her company. Never wanting to sell unless absolutely necessary in the first place, now Nami is extra motivated not to let Jae win, yet again. The two haven't outgrown their high school ways, and each try to one up each other, but the hate competition quickly turns into sparks. When Jae chooses corporate loyalty over telling Nami important information about a potential deal with a new buyer, he risks losing her, but quickly rallies her rag tag team of employees to step up and save the day. There were a few sub plots in this one that didn't really add much to the story except for length, and I didn't find myself relating much to any of the characters. I did find the office prank dynamic to be mildly amusing, although a little drawn out. I'd recommend this one if you're into the childhood nemesis turned workplace rival trope.

An Asian Rom-Com??? I loved this book. I really enjoyed both of the main characters and how different this novel felt. I received an advanced copy of the audio book which truly helped my experience. I would definitely recommend this to someone else.

I listened to The Second You're Single last year and I really enjoyed that book. So when I saw she had a new one this year I knew I had to read it. This one started out a little slow for me for some reason. I really enjoyed all the characters (the mom was a little bit of a pain..Lol) in this book. I definitely had laugh out loud moments. I really enjoyed Nami and Jae Lee's competitiveness and banter. Once this start coming together you will definitely love this book. I found it really easy to follow. I can't wait for the next book from Cara. I would definitely recommend this sweet rom com!


Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Griffin for allowing me to read this ARC in advance for my honest opinion.

Synopsis: Nami is living her dream running her own tech company. But when funding runs low, threatening to ruin everything, she might have to turn to the most unlikely person for help - her high school nemesis, Jae Lee.

Thoughts: This was a fun rivals to lovers rom com. I really loved the main character - always love to see a woman in stem, especially this one where she owns her own company! I really enjoyed the workplace aspect and the coworkers as the cast of side characters. They were fun and spunky and really rounded out the story. I didn’t like the male main character quite as much, he was more difficult to like I think by design though. If you’re a fan of rivals to lovers, workplace romance, low spice romances, definitely check this out! I had both an electronic and audio copy of this book and I will say the audio narrators definitely made the book for me!

Read this if you like:
💻 workplace romance
💻 rivals to lovers
💻 women in STEM

This was just ok for me. The relationship was awkward at best. The enemies to lovers thing was very uncomfortable as both Jae and Nami were very rude to each other. The crypto bits seemed very outdated as did the idea for the app and the high interest in takeover. Maybe if I had read this book 10 years ago it might have felt more trendy.

I liked this funny enemies to lovers, workplace rom com. On her birthday, Nami wishes for her soulmate, but instead got a guy from HS named Jae who she can’t stand. They competed to be valedictorian in HS, and while Nami always felt awkward Jae was the coolest guy in school.

Worse yet, he works for a company that takes over smaller companies and tears them apart, and now he’s coming for her startup. It’s more than a place to work for Nami, it’s also her family and she can’t bear to let it go.

She can’t ignore the chemistry between herself and Jae, and she’s slowly finding out that maybe he’s not the bad guy she thinks he is.

I liked the way Nami finally dropped her preconceptions about Jae, but actually talking to each other would help. Also they sometimes acted awfully childishly for people owning startups and taking over companies. 4 stars.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed as in this review are completely my own.

And here I thought The Second You're Single was a favorite of mine until The Takeover by Cara Tanamachi busted into my Kindle!
So this work place/enemies-to-lovers rom-com was a delightful and relatable novel.
The writing is witty and engaging, and the characters are lovable and memorable.
The characters are so likeable, believable and you can't help but root for them.
Right from the very beginning I found myself fully immersed in this tale.

Thank You NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

The Takeover is a fast paced rom-com about high school enemies turned adulthood enemies, making up competitions against each other wherever they go. This was a cute story and I flew right through it, but it was hard to believe two people well out of high school, where they were enemies, would still harbor such strong competitive and aggressive feelings toward each other as grown adults. The writing was just okay in some places... but again, I did fly right through it. So, if you like a fast-paced enemies to lovers rom-com there's a chance you will like this one. It just wasn't a top pick for me.

I thought this was a fun read. Nami and Jae Lee were high school enemies as Nami was a do-gooder, and Jae Lee sometimes broke the rules. In Nami's world, rules are made to be followed and there is only black and white. Jae Lee has had a life with some privilege, although he has pressure from his dad because he is the first born, and he sees things as having gray sometimes. He is a ruthless businessman and when he finds out Nami's company is in trouble and his company could possibly buy them out, he jumps at the chance to be challenged by Nami again. Also, eah one of their families and Nami's colleagues make a great addition to the story. Highly recommend reading this one to see where it goes. After all, they always say there's a thin line between love and hate.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for advanced copy, and I give my review freely

Ok, first of all, I honestly thought the writing in this was a bit cringe. I don't know the author's age but it seemed like they were trying to force gen z/millennial humor/language and it came out unnatural. I also think the whole premise and plotline were weird, and the third-act breakup and rushed ending didn't help either. The fact that two people that haven't spoken in years were still caught up in high school hatred and competition was also kinda crazy ngl. I get it, but it was too extreme. Also, the fact that she was a hall monitor was mentioned a billion times; We get it. I didn't want to DNF it for the review, but sadly I just didn't enjoy it as much as I would've liked to. P.S. The hell ramen scene was pretty funny though so points for that.

This cover is so cute! I love it. I love the rivals to lovers trope. Nami's life is not where she thought it would be. Her start up is the only good thing that is until her highschool rival comes in to take it over. Jae Lee was her constant competition all through highschool. Now he is trying to take the one thing she has that she is proud of. When they have to work close together will their hearts become involved? I loved this fun romcom. The story was so good and the romance was so sweet. I cannot wait to read more by this author.Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC. I enjoyed the narrators but the story was too immature for my liking. People actually act like that? No thanks.

Read if you like:
🌏 Asian American Characters
📦 not a fan of Amazon Company
🥵 Spicy Food Challenges
😡 Enemies to Lovers
📥 Workplace Romances

Overall, this is a solid romance that features high school enemies that are brought back together through business when one wants to facilitate the purchase of the other’s business in a somewhat hostile takeover, hence the title 😉

Jae is the privileged executive of rainforest (Amazon vibes) who is wanting to buy up Nami’s company to chew it up for pieces and spit it out after the deal is solidified since competing with Nami is something that has always brought him joy and currently he is bored and could use with her challenging him to bring a spark back for him.

Nami is definitely blindsided by this even though she has known their small company has been struggling and needs a solution but never thought it would be Jae or selling out to the corporate evil that doesn’t align with her business ethics and values.

This creates quite the tension for the enemies to lovers combined with their high school rivalry and bad blood.

This book, obviously features some miscommunication that leads to the third act break up which I think was something you’d see coming with this plot.

All in all, this is a solid romance that follows the traditional enemies to lovers with miscommunication tropes formulas and will be enjoyable to many.

Thanks so much to the publisher for my ARac in exchange for my honest review!

I have chosen to withhold my review of The Takeover by Cara Tanamachi in accordance with the marketing boycott of reviewing and platforming titles published under St. Martin’s Press and associated imprints. As a company, St. Martin’s Press has yet to meaningfully acknowledge and address the harm caused by a marketing employee who perpetuated Islamophobic sentiments against those of Palestinian descent specifically, and has a documented history of discriminating against readers of Arab heritage in general. As a reader, I refuse to participate, even passively, in perpetuating harm against my fellow readers in an activity all should be able to enjoy.

Once action is taken by St. Martin’s Press as a company to address the harm caused and how they will be dedicated to a decisive plan of action to address needs for diversity, equity and inclusion, I will upload my review of The Takeover by Cara Tanamachi.

"The Takeover" was not only a fun romance story, the two main characters also worked to find themselves. Nami and Jae Lee had great rivals' chemistry and banter on the page! I also enjoyed reading about both of their separate families throughout the book and in the little moments with them. I found myself rooting for Nami and Jae Lee all the way through. I couldn't put this book down! Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own!

I thoroughly enjoyed The Second You're Single and fully expected to enjoy this one and it did meet my expectations. Weirdly, I LOVED Sora in "Single" and found myself changing my mind in this one. And I DIDN'T love Nami and again, found myself changing my mind in this one. The relationship between Jae and Nami is most definitely more madcap than can be believed but I tend to suspend disbelief when reading any kind of romance since, well, real life rarely meets the high expectations. I, personally, found some of the "challenges" they put themselves through a little crazy but hey, I wasn't there lol. All in all, I had some laughs and I had some swoons and have no issues reading this author again and again.

In solidarity with the SMP Boycott I will be withholding my review for this title (which I was given prior to the boycott) until SMP acts on the following:

1. Address and denounce the Islamophobic and racist remarks from their employee.
2. Offer tangible steps for how they are going to mitigate the harm this employee caused.
3. Address how, moving forward, they will support and protect their Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian influencers, authors and readers, in addition to supporting their BIPOC influencers, authors, and readers.

This is not a reflection of the author personally, nor is it a call to boycott buying this particular book. And this star rating is a reflection of how much I enjoyed the book.

Unfortunately due to the current SMP boycott, I will not post my review until the concerns are addressed..